My First Trip Report! - "Escape from New York" - completed

[baseballmickey]

Originally Posted by airplanegod

Fantastic job so far! I've been away for a while too, but I caught up here! I feel bad for all of you at that point with regards to the crowds. In my opinion, the one place Disney needs to improve on is crowd control, both here in Disney World and out in Disneyland. Or maybe it's just a part of the whole Disney experience.

Thanks!! I think it may be part of the experience too! We'd always handled the crowds pretty well. I guess we found our crowd tolerance limit that night though.

[averill94]

Does anybody know the MKs crowd capacity?

Always thought we wanted to go at Thanksgiving and Christmas time but now I am not so sure!!!!

[baseballmickey]

Originally Posted by averill94

Does anybody know the MKs crowd capacity?

Always thought we wanted to go at Thanksgiving and Christmas time but now I am not so sure!!!!

Good question. I did some quick Googling and no definitive answer jumps out. My results included several threads and the sources for the numbers people were throwing around were "A CM told me," or "when I was a CM we were told"... so who knows if these are right, but the general concensus of what I saw seemed to be around 70-75 thousand for MK. There was also someone who posted an MK AVERAGE daily attendance at 40-something thousand... so that may give some support to the 70-75k figure.

I wonder if there is any kind of "official" max crowd capacity on file... maybe RCID? With the FLE underway, that number should be changing.

[baseballmickey]

I can't believe it's been practically 2 months since I've updated this TR!!

It's not like I fell off the face of the Earth. I've been active on the boards, but it just seems like every time I tried to focus on the TR, something or other got in the way. More often than not, I've just been too tired to concentrate. Being a SAHD has been SO much harder than I imagined. I thought I would have had a lot more time for things, but it hasn't worked out that way.

Throw in my ear surgery and troubles on the job front over the last two months and the TR just fell through the cracks.

I've probably lost many of those who took the time to read this, but if anyone is still following, I am going to get this updated!! Thanks!!

[amandaw]

Originally Posted by baseballmickey

I can't believe it's been practically 2 months since I've updated this TR!!

It's not like I fell off the face of the Earth. I've been active on the boards, but it just seems like every time I tried to focus on the TR, something or other got in the way. More often than not, I've just been too tired to concentrate. Being a SAHD has been SO much harder than I imagined. I thought I would have had a lot more time for things, but it hasn't worked out that way.

Throw in my ear surgery and troubles on the job front over the last two months and the TR just fell through the cracks.

I've probably lost many of those who took the time to read this, but if anyone is still following, I am going to get this updated!! Thanks!!

No worries! I think all of us here know that, unfortunately, life can sometimes get in the way of the DIS.

I'm a SAHM, so I know just how hard it can be....and I only have one! Hope your ear surgery went well. And, again, I understand the whole job troubles thing. The company my DH worked for shut down at the end of October. He had a 5 week notice to get another job. But, fortunately, it has all worked out for the best! And I hope things have worked out well for you & your DW as well.

[shan23877]

still here!

[baseballmickey]

There was a part of me that didn't want to get up off that bench. Another part of me knew we had to do something to keep ourselves occupied. Fortunately, we were only steps away from one of the biggest time-swallowing rides in all of MK... Dumbo!! DD and I went for a nocturnal pachyderm flight while DW kept the bench warm!

a view of the castle while we waited for our ride to start:





DD enjoying Dumbo under the stars





The line for Dumbo was not as long as it usually is. We killed about 30 minutes between waiting on line and our ride. It was now about 10pm. We consulted the show schedule and saw that we could make the Tomorrowland Christmas show. It seemed like a good way to kill some more time, so we reluctantly left our bench and leisurely strolled over to Tomorrowland.

Tomorrowland was even more empty than Fantasyland. We walked right up to the stage with a couple of minutes to spare. The crowd waiting for the show was small enough that I could have counted the people (But I didn't). DD had fallen asleep in the stroller on the way over. She perked up a bit when the show began. Here are some grabs from my video of the show:













It was a cute show, and it did it's job helping us pass the time. Before heading back to Fantasyland, we killed some more time by getting on the standby line for Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. No pictures or video this time, though.

Between the show and Buzz Lightyear, we got an hour closer to 2011 in Tomorrowland. We decided to wait the rest out back in Fantasyland, and headed back, yet again.

Amazingly, our spot was still unoccupied. There were a bit more people gathering in Fantasyland for the fireworks, but they seemed to be leaving our little sanctuary alone. They kept to the sides of the carousel, looking toward the castle. Here are some of the crowd shots from my video camera.







So we sat on our bench, and listened to the music being played from the castle stage. DD continued to amaze me with her endless energy. I expected her to be dead asleep during that last hour of waiting, and perhaps sleeping through the fireworks themselves. Instead, she said, "Daddy, c'mon! Let's dance!"





Oh yeah, and now that we were in the home stretch, the hats came back out!!!





And we bought DD a light up toy (it promptly broke, but we got it replaced)



And then... it was time. 10 MINUTES TO 2011!!!

It was time for Fantasy in the Sky fireworks. The classic fireworks, only they went off from multiple positions around the park, so we were surrounded by fireworks. We had a great view from our spot looking just between Dumbo and Pinnochio's. Our view to the left wasn't bad either, and it was a bit blocked by the tree we were under and the castle when we tried to look behind us or to our right toward Tomorrowland. Here's a little sample:



I was videotaping with my left hand, while taking pictures of DW and DD with my DSLR with my right. With my attention torn, both the video and the pictures suffered a bit. But I'll post the best of the pics here and get the video on youtube for those brave enough to watch.















And then it was time. The last "Fantasy" firework faded, and the whole park roared with applause. But this applause quickly died, because now we could hear Goofy's and Mickey's voices. It seemed like everyone in our immediate area was straining to hear above the sound of noisemakers. Although it was hard to make out the exact words, it was clear when the countdown started. Each even number on the countdown was accompanied by a firework in its shape going off in the sky all around. And when it hit midnight, the sky exploded all around us.

It was a grand finale that lasted about 2 1/2 minutes. Non-stop fireworks all around. I was turning in circles as I watched it all happening (and videotaping in circles!) I paused about halfway through to give DW and DD Happy New Year kisses, and then it was back to the dizzying attempt to take it all in!

The video might come closer than the pictures, but neither can come close to capturing how great that moment was for me. We did it! We never gave up. We overcame every obstacle and not only were we there to ring in the new year at MK, but we still had our sanity and we actually were able to enjoy it!

DD was a little upset as the fireworks ended, but not because it was over...but because she was concerned for Mickey. She heard his voice before the fireworks went off and she didn't know where he was, and he didn't come back on afterwards... I feel bad laughing at it, but it was so funny but yet so sweet.

It was hands-down the best New Year's Eve... EVER!

I know this feels like it should be the end of the story... but we've still got to leave MK, and then we have one more full day at WDW!!

New Year's Day is next!!

[baseballmickey]

Originally Posted by amandaw

No worries! I think all of us here know that, unfortunately, life can sometimes get in the way of the DIS.

I'm a SAHM, so I know just how hard it can be....and I only have one! Hope your ear surgery went well. And, again, I understand the whole job troubles thing. The company my DH worked for shut down at the end of October. He had a 5 week notice to get another job. But, fortunately, it has all worked out for the best! And I hope things have worked out well for you & your DW as well.

Thanks! The surgery was a success. Sorry to hear about your DH's work troubles, but glad things have worked out! We are getting by, and hopefully things will get better on our end sooner rather than later.

Originally Posted by shan23877

still here!

Yay! Thanks!!

[kimbo0569]

I'm still here! Loved your update! What a fabulous way to spend NYE and well worth the trouble you went through to get there, when your daughter remembers dancing with her dad in MK and watching all those fireworks!

I spent NYE in DW once and it was, by far, the best time I've had, ever! I would love to go with my daughters one time!

[Chicago Mo]

still here! what is the SAHM???

[baseballmickey]

Originally Posted by kimbo0569

I'm still here! Loved your update! What a fabulous way to spend NYE and well worth the trouble you went through to get there, when your daughter remembers dancing with her dad in MK and watching all those fireworks!

I spent NYE in DW once and it was, by far, the best time I've had, ever! I would love to go with my daughters one time!

I am not sure if she will always remember it, but I know I will! I have trouble remembering things from when I was a kid. I hope to be able to do it again sometime when DS is old enough to enjoy it. I hope you get to experience it again with your daughters!

Originally Posted by Chicago Mo

still here! what is the SAHM???

Thanks for checking in! SAHM = Stay-At-Home Mom

[amandaw]

Great update!

Love the picture of your DD on Dumbo! So cute! And I also love the pictures of y'all dancing. Such a sweet memory that both you & her will remember for years & years to come!

I'm so happy for y'all that y'all were able to ring in the new year at MK even after the horrible weather, illnesses & crazy crowds. It made me all teary-eyed for y'all!

[baseballmickey]

Originally Posted by amandaw

Great update!

Love the picture of your DD on Dumbo! So cute! And I also love the pictures of y'all dancing. Such a sweet memory that both you & her will remember for years & years to come!

I'm so happy for y'all that y'all were able to ring in the new year at MK even after the horrible weather, illnesses & crazy crowds. It made me all teary-eyed for y'all!

Thank you!

[baseballmickey]

Happy Thanksgiving!!

[baseballmickey]

Before I get into the next day's adventures, I have to finish up MK. I cannot express how exhausted we all were. I think that had we been going home the next day, we probably would have just sat down on our bench and milked our time at MK, people watching or even napping (MK was open for a couple of hours still). But we had another whole day ahead of us, so we needed to go get some rest. We lingered in Fantasyland for a bit, and then decided to slowly make our way to Main Street. We were hoping that if we took our time, much of the crowd might be gone by the time we got there.

One last pic of the casle from the backside. We were finally leaving Fantasyland... for good.



We walked around the Tomorrowland side of the castle, and as we were passing Cosmic Ray's, a CM was letting everyone know that there was free hot chocolate and cookies inside. DD perked right up at the words "hot chocolate" and DW and I looked at each other and said "why not?" DW went inside while I waited outside with DD. She came out after a few minutes with our treats. The hot chocolate was indeed "hot" and the cookies were good. It was a nice surprise for the end of the night. We ate our cookies and drank our hot chocolates while listening to the music from the castle.

We slowly inched our way toward the hub. We stopped to take a pic of the castle from the bridge.



A couple was trying to take their own picture with the castle in the background, so I offered to take it for them. They then returned the favor.



Eventually we made it back to the hub, where we were relieved to see that the crowd had thinned out... somewhat. Near the stage was a huge crowd of people, and Main Street was packed with people leaving. We were in the open space between them. We weren't looking forward to being shoulder-to-shoulder with people again, but it was the only way out.

Some pics of the castle and crowd.







Still in no hurry, we turned and made our way down Main Street, and the mass of people heading to the exit. Some pics of the Main Street crowd





and it was "Snowing!" What a thrill to experience some Main Street Snow as we were walking out!



A little closer view of the snow.

[IMG]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-FqLbPgFFMAQ/TjI7jDeU-**/AAAAAAAAAM4/5rCFE_FuUeU/s1024/DSC_0464.JPG[/IMG]

Normally we spend time shopping in the Emporium at the end of the night. We were just too tired. One last pic of the tree on the way out.



And then we were finally outside the park.



From here it was back to the TTC and our car. That walk through the parking lot... How many times have I done it? You get off the tram and suddenly you are almost completely alone. Your feet ache. Your shoulders ache. Sometimes you're carrying a bag or a kid... or both. I kept telling myself that it was just a few more minutes. Make it to the car, and then a short drive back to the resort.

Well, as our luck would have it. It wasn't that simple. We made it to the car without a problem. We left the parking lot and headed for the resort. But... we hit a traffic jam once we got on to World Drive. DW let out an expletive and all I could respond with was, "well, at least we only have to make it a little ways before our exit."

Oops. Our exit was closed. In fact, all the exits off World Drive were closed. All traffic was being forced to leave WDW entirely... all the way out to I-4 and 192. And we crawled the whole way out. So we ended up taking the long way back to SSR. Got on I-4 and went back to 535, and circled around to the other side of DTD to get back to SSR.

I think we left the park at around 12:45am, give or take a few minutes. We didn't get back to SSR until 2am.

Needless to say, we went straight to bed.

Up Next, Only 1 Day left and 2 parks to choose from...